Borussia Mönchengladbach is facing the most important game of the Champions League season so far. With a win on Wednesday (6:55 p.m.) at home against Shakhtar Donetsk, the club with the ÖFB trio Stefan Lainer, Valentino Lazaro and Hannes Wolf in Group B with Real Madrid and Inter Milan could take a giant step towards the second round.
After three games, a 6-0 away win in Ukraine as well as a 2-2 home draw against Real and a 2-2 at Inter, Borussia surprisingly ranks with five points ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk (4), Real (4) and the Milanese (2) in first place. Above all, bottom Inter is already under heavy pressure in the home game against Madrid in the evening (9:00 p.m.) to stay in the race for promotion places.
Gladbach could meanwhile not only move closer to the knockout round, at least the winter in the European Cup would be as good as safe for the “foals”. “I do believe that we can make something very special out of this situation,” said captain Lars Stindl, whose team dealt with the Ukrainians 6-0 away in the first leg.
“Turn in the right direction”
Something like in the Europa League last year, when a draw against Basaksehir Istanbul would have been enough to advance but Borussia unfortunately lost 2-1, should not be repeated this year given the excellent starting position. Coach Marco Rose demanded further development of his team, which was still undefeated in the premier class. “We can turn a lot in the right direction for us. We definitely want to win, ”said the former Salzburg coach.
In Group C, the flawless Manchester City (9 points) at Olympiacos Piraeus (3) would be enough to get promoted, the pointless Olympique Marseille is doomed to win in their home game against FC Porto (6). The starting position in Group D is similarly clear, where Liverpool would create clear conditions prematurely against Atalanta Bergamo with their fourth win in their fourth game. Ajax Amsterdam, which holds four points like Bergamo, receives bottom midtjylland (0).
